Crimson
by justicar347
Summary: Set durring Book 1. Sokka discovers that the nearby Fire Nation fort holds a mysterious prisoner. Now Aang, Katara, and Sokka will have to try and free him. But what is the terrifying secret he holds. Warning: Extream violence and gore.
1. The Fort on the Hill

**Crimson **

**Chapter 1: The Fort on the Hill**

**By justicar347**

**Disclaimer: **I do not own Avatar: The Last Airbender. It would be about Sokka and Iroh if I did.

**Author's Note: **This story is set in season one, a little over a week after they met Jet. I came up with the idea for this story during season one, but put off writing it in favor of some other stories. I finally got motivated to write it when I heard that there was going to be an episode in season three with similar subject matter and I didn't want to look like a copy-cat. Mind you, I'm not the only one that has come up with this idea.

**Author's Warning:** This story will feature vivid violence and gore in the latter chapters.

It was a cool day and the breeze was strong. The leaves were being swept though the air in a swirling dance of reds, yellows, and oranges. It was late in the afternoon and the sun was slowly sinking closer to the horizon. They had been traveling for several days though the hilly country without any sign of civilization. Finally they had spotted a small village where they could get some supplies. Unfortunately, they also spotted a Fire Nation fort up on the large hill that overlooked the village.

"Ok, look we need the supplies," Sokka said as he and Katara argued over what to do. Katara was firmly against going into the village. They had not seen or been seen my the Fire Nation in ten days, why should they risk a run in now? Sokka on the other hand was much more concerned with his stomach. "There doesn't even seem to be that many soldiers in the village. I can go down there and get the supplies and be back up here before dark. This village is so remote that I doubt they even know the Avatar is back, let alone looking for us."

"Fine," Katara said with a huff. She crossed her arms and glared at Sokka. "Just don't expect me and Aang to come rescue you once you take your first step into the village and the guards have you under arrest."

With that the argument was finished. Aang had tried to voice his own opinion on the matter, but soon let the siblings argue it out. It was starting to become clear to him that even if he might be able to bring peace to the world, an argument between a brother and sister was something that he would just have to let it run its course. At least with everything settled Aang could spend the rest of the day practicing waterbending with Katara while Sokka went for supplies. With the North Pole so far away, he needed all the practice he could if he wanted to master waterbending in time.

Sokka pulled the hood of his cloak low so it would obscure his face as he neared the village. Despite his own arguments, he was smart enough not to advertise who he was in a Fire Nation controlled town. It did occur to him that he might be making himself look more suspicious this way in all irony.

As he a got closer, he could see that the village was a cluster of about two dozen houses. There appeared to be a line of stalls and other businesses down the main street. All in all, he would have to call the village quaint and peaceful looking. However, the Fire Nation guard standing under the archway into the town told him otherwise.

"Hey, you there," the guard called out to Sokka, proving that he was not asleep, though the sound of his voice would indicate he was not far from it. "Who are you and what are you doing?"

Sokka held his hands and said, "I'm just a lost traveler not familiar with this part of the world. I've been wandering for many days in hopes of finding a town so I could get directions and supplies. I'm in a real hurry to get home because my mother is—"

"Look, I just wanted to know who you were and what your business was, not your life story," the guard said cutting Sokka's rather elaborate and thought out lie. "The village elder, Getsu, should be able to tell you anything you need to know and the market is fairly well stocked," the guard said as he waved Sokka though. "Oh, and one more thing," the guard flipped Sokka's hood back so he could see his face, "don't wear your hood like that. It makes you look suspicious."

"Ok…thanks," Sokka said and started into the village, slightly annoyed that he did not get to use his well thought out lie. He was rather surprised, usually guards, especially Fire Nation guards, were not all that hospitable. Still, Sokka was not about to look a gift ostrichorse in the mouth.

The market was indeed more than adequately stoked and the people were friendly. It did not take Sokka long to get all of things he needed (a large quantity of meat being one of the items). He could have left then, but something was bothering him. Where were all of the Fire Nation soldiers? Aside from the guard at the gate he had only seen a handful of soldiers. They did not seem to be particularly patrolling the village, in fact most seemed to be on casual strolls.

This was not the Fire Nation that Sokka knew, or at least thought he knew. Things just did not make since. Why were there so few soldiers in the town? Why weren't the soldiers trying to be more controlling of the town? Why was there even a fort in a village this small? That was when it hit him, there had to be something up with that fort.

Sokka knew he should probably just let it go. The people in the town seemed fine. He had what he wanted. He knew he should just go back to Katara and Aang. But Sokka could not. He knew something was up with that fort, and since it was the Fire Nation it could not be anything good.

Finally settling his resolve, Sokka determined to investigate the matter before returning to the others. He figured that the village elder would be the best person to inquire with, and the guard had so helpfully given him his name. After a few inquiries with the vendors, Sokka found himself standing outside a modest house not far from the market. He rapt on the door and waited to see if the man was home.

"Hello," said an old man with gray hair and long, but well kept beard as he opened the door. He was short, not even taller than Sokka, and skinny. The man looked Sokka up and down. "I am Gatsu, is there something I can do for you?"

"My name is Sokka. I'm a traveler passing though your village and I was hoping you could answer some questions," Sokka told Gatsu. He smiled in what he hoped was an unarming way. He had taken the guard's advice and left his hood down to not look suspicious.

"Of course, come in," said Gatsu. He led Sokka into his house and pointed him to a wooden chair while drawling up one of his own. Once they were both situated, "So what is it you want to know?"

"Well, I've noticed that this town is controlled by the Fire Nation, but there are not many soldiers in the town. Also there is a fort up on that hill, but this village isn't exactly in majorly strategic area. I was hoping you could shed some light on these oddities," Sokka said.

Gatsu raised an eyebrow at the enquiries. He stroked his beard as he though for a moment then spoke, "Truth be told, some of this is a bit of a mystery to us. The commander of the fort has told me that he is uninterested in our village and that he has more important things to worry about than keep a few peasants in line. So long as we don't cause know trouble, the soldiers leave us be for the most part.

'As to why the fort is there, it is a little less clear. They seemed to be some kind of supply station. We get small units that pass though here. They stop at the fort, resupply, the off they go. As you remarked, it is an odd place for a supply station, but I'm no military commander. There is one more thing, a rumor actually…" Gatsu started to trail off, but Sokka gave him a nod his head to continue, "I've heard it mentioned that the fort is actually some kind of prison. The soldiers have made a few comments, but it seems to be something they aren't really supposed to discuss. What makes it stranger is that from the little that has slipped, it seems they only have one prisoner there."

Sokka made a little more small talk before finally leaving. He thanked Gatsu for his time and complemented the village before heading back to the market to contemplate what he had learned. It was close to twilight and he knew Katara would worry if he did not return to the camp before sunset so he started back towards the village entrance.

As he neared the arch, he spotted two soldiers moving into the village tavern. He had gotten several good bargains while shopping and had some coins left over. After considering the possibilities, he made his way to the tavern with a grin on his face. Soldiers were known to be more "forthcoming" to those that bought them a few drinks.

"Where have you been?!" Katara practically shouted as she saw Sokka enter the clearing. She had been nervously pacing around the campfire since the sun went down. She had wanted to go off and search for him at twilight, but Aang had told her to give Sokka some time. They should not assume the worse and if he might have been delayed for a perfectly good reason. Still, Katara could not help but be anxious. "We though you had been captured. We were getting ready to go that Fire Nation for to rescue you."

Sokka just smirked at her, knowing that would only fuel her aggravation with him. "That's ok, we're going there anyhow."

"What?" Aang and Katara asked incredulously. Even Momo and Appa tilted their heads to the side at this unexpected statement.

"While I was in town I found out some great information. That isn't a fort, it's a prison," Sokka said with a large smile.

"Um, Sokka… how exactly is that great?" Aang asked scratching his head.

"Because their only prisoner is a waterbending master. If we free him, he can teach you and Katara how to waterbend. We won't have to go all the way to the North Pole and it will save us a lot of time before Sozin's Comet arrives, "Sokka said. He watched as the full implication of his words dawned on his companions' faces and they all shared a smile.


	2. Breaking and Entering

**Crimson **

**Chapter 2: Breaking and Entering**

**By justicar347**

**Disclaimer: **I do not own Avatar: The Last Airbender. Sokka would refer to Momo as the emergency food supply if I did.

**Author's Note: **This story is set in season one, a little over a week after they met Jet. I came up with the idea for this story during season one, but put off writing it in favor of some other stories. I finally got motivated to write it when I heard that there was going to be an episode in season three with similar subject matter and I didn't want to look like a copy-cat. Mind you, I'm not the only one that has come up with this idea.

**Author's Warning:** This story will feature vivid violence and gore in the latter chapters.

BURP

"Aang," Sokka admonished, "we need to be quiet this close to the fort."

"Sorry, I think some of the fruit I ate is disagreeing with me," Aang said as he rubbed his belly.

"Leave it to Sokka to buy tainted fruit," Katara said with a grin.

"Shhhhh," Sokka hushed the two benders with his finger. "What don't you two get about 'close to the fort' and our need for stealth?" Sokka asked rhetorically as he cast paranoid glances at every shadow as though expecting soldiers to appear out of nowhere despite the fact that he himself had described the forts security as nonexistent. "And for your information there was nothing wrong with that fruit. He just needs to eat more meat."

It was close to midnight now and the three children had approached the fort from the forest. The moon was shining above their heads, much too brightly in Sokka's opinion. It was making them much more visible as the trees thinned and they approached the open ground they would have to cross to get to the fort.

They pulled their dark cloaks tighter to them. This was as much to fend off the cold breeze as to help hide. Each snap of a twig or crinkle of a leaf as they stepped sounded a thousand times to loud.

As they neared the edge of the forest, Aang motioned for them all to stop. With a powerful leap, he soared into the tree branches. Within a few heartbeats he had ascended to the tree tops and could see the guards of the outer wall in the moonlight. After observing the wall for a minuet he descended back to the forest floor.

"Well, what did you see?" Sokka asked in a hushed voice.

"There is a guard on each corner of the wall as far as I can tell. It definitely isn't the most well guarded fort we've come across," Aang explained with smile. "We shouldn't have to much trouble getting in."

"You're enjoying this way too much," Katara said with a smirk. She and Aang were both excited at the prospect of meeting a real waterbending master. She could see on Sokka's face, however, that to him this was just a mission against the Fire Nation. She knew Sokka was right, this is a serious mission. She set her face into a more serious look. "So, what is the plan?"

"We're going to wait for the next cloud to pass and cover the moon. We'll make a break for the South side of the wall. Once we are there, Aang will airbend himself up to the top of the wall," Sokka turned to look Aang in the eye, "Aang you have to knockout the guard before he can raise the alarm."

Aang nodded his head in affirmation.

"Good. After that you can lower this rope down to us and we'll climb up," Sokka said as he handed Aang a coil of rope. He had purchased the rope just before leaving the town once he knew that they were going to have to break into the prison.

They all stood there in the shadows of the trees, waiting for the right opportunity. Finally, a large, thick cloud crossed the moon's path and dispelled the light it had been casting on the ground. They broke into a run across the open field, hoping that it would be to dark for them to be seen and that the guards would be too high off the ground to hear their footfalls.

They made it to the wall's shadow just before the cloud passed. Aang did not stop; he just leapt hard and continued running up the wall. Using his airbending, he propelled himself along until he reached the top.

As he reached the top he could see that the guard had been looking in the other direction. Aang took a firm took a firm hold on his glider-staff and walked up behind the guard. "Sorry," he said as he started to swing.

"Wha—"

CRACK

The blow took the guard solid in the head as he went to turn around. He was knocked off of his feet. The blow had knocked him out cold. Aang leaned down to see how bad a shape the guard was in. He did not like attacking someone like this, but it was necessary.

"Hey, Tien, is there something wrong over there. I thought I heard a noise," Aang heard one of the guards farther down the wall call. He had heard the noise and walked down the wall to investigate. He was now only about fifty feet away.

Acting quickly, Aang hoisted the unconscious guard and moved him into the shadowy light of the nearby torch. He raised the man's arm and waved it back and forth. It was at this time he let out an unfortunately loud burp. Aang paled, wondering how this would affect his admittedly poor ruse.

"You ate some of those pachi fruits, didn't you. I warned you not to eat those things. Your stomach is going to be annoying you all night now," the other guard called with a laugh. His curiosity satisfied, the guard headed back to his own post.

"That was way to close," Aang said after letting out a sigh. He laid the guard back down then went to the edge of the wall and lowered the rope to Sokka and Katara. Once they were up, they used the rope to bind and gag the guard incase he woke up.

Sokka looked down over the wall to survey the rest of the fort. There was a small parade field behind the front gate, a stable and smithy off in the east corner, and then finally a large three story build. He figured that structure was a combination barracks, prison, and command post. "Based on what I got out of the guards, the prison is suppose to be in the basement. We'll have to sneak in. Security is pretty lax out here, but it'll probably be stronger inside," he told the others.

They climbed down the ladder to the courtyard. Keeping to the shadows, they crossed the distance as fast as they dared till they had reached the central building. They crept along until they came across a small side door. They were in luck, the door was unlocked. Sokka peaked inside and discovered an empty hallway lined with doors.

It was nice to be inside, the building held off the chilly wind. Sokka took the lead with his club at the ready while Katara was the rear guard. They made their way down the hall quietly. Snores on the other sides of the doors indicated that they were probably in the barracks.

They made their way to the end of the hall and discovered that they had two choices of which way to go. Sokka wanted to go right. Naturally, Aang and Katara out voted him and they went left. Carefully they made their way through the winding complex. They stopped when they heard voices ahead.

"I hate the late shift."

"Yea, we all do."

The trio pressed themselves against the wall as they heard the booted foot steps around the corner. They readied their attacks incase the soldiers spotted them. They collectively held their breaths as the soldiers came into view, then let it out as the soldiers kept walking without looking down their corridor.

"Well at least we just have to watch the prisoner instead of standing out in the wind all night."

All three of them perked up at this then turned to smile at each other. Things were going just their way to night by the look of things. That should have been their first sign that something was wrong.


	3. Unintentional Sin

**Crimson **

**Chapter 3: Unintentional Sin**

**By justicar347**

**Disclaimer: **I do not own Avatar: The Last Airbender. Sokka would wear his hair down, because he looks a lot cooler that way.

**Author's Note: **We are finally going to get to see some action this chapter. Don't forget to leave a review.

**Author's Warning:** This story will feature vivid violence and gore in the next chapter. Starting next chapter I will be boosting rating for this story to M, because it is going to get very violent. This is your last warning.

Aang, Katara, and Sokka followed the two guards with all the stealth they could muster. They hid behind corners and down adjacent halls until the soldiers would turn down another. Sokka was mentally mapping each turn so they would be able to get out without getting lost. The soldiers' prattling about working at the dreary fort helped to cover their foot falls.

Finally they watched as the soldiers turned down another corridor then heard one say, "We're here to take over for the late shift."

Sokka cautiously looked around the corner and could see that the soldiers had stopped in front of a set of large iron double-doors. The doors were locked similar to the ones to the Avatar's inner chamber on Crescent Island, only firebending could open them. The doors were guarded by two more soldiers. The skull-like faceplates indicated their status as firebenders.

"Guys, the door requires firebending to unlock it," Sokka explained in a whisper.

"What are we going to do?" Katara asked. "None of us are firebenders."

"Yea, but they are. We'll just have to get them to open it by accident. It looks like this lock only needs one burst of fire, so if Aang can get one of them to hit it, we should be able to get inside," Sokka said as he turned to look at Aang.

"I think I can do that," Aang said with a nod.

"But what about the noise, won't a fight attract attention?" Katara asked with worried look.

"We'll just have to risk it," Sokka said with a shrug, "As soon as we have the prisoner free we'll make a mad dash for the exit."

They finished their discussion just as they heard the guards change place and the old ones began to walk back up the corridor. Without waiting for the others, Aang sped off and turned down the corridor. He could see the two guards that had just been relieved pause in shock as they saw him rushing towards them.

One of the guards had the presence of mind to send a burst of flame at him. Aang easily dodged out of the way, then with a spinning leap was behind them. He continued charging down the corridor towards the doors as if he were going to crash right through them. He sent a strong gust of wind down the corridor that knocked both of the guards down there off their feet. As he neared the door, he could hear the crackling sound of fire as it pursed him. As he reached the doors he leapt up and kicked off of them. He could feel the heat of the fire as it flew under his back to hit the lock. As he landed, he could see the gears of the lock start to turn. At the moment though, the four soldiers were a more pressing concern.

Katara and Sokka came racing around the corner as the firebenders accidently opened the door for them. Sokka raised his club up in both hands and brought it down hard on the back of one soldier's helmet. The hard blow knocked the guard out and sent him crumpling onto the floor. The crack of club against helmet was enough to get the other firebender to turn and see what happened, only to have Katara's waterwhip strike a stunning blow to his faceplate. As the guard tried to refocus from the blow, Sokka hit him hard in the diaphragm with his club. Having the air suddenly forced from his lungs along with the blow his head received was more than enough to send him into unconsciousness with his partner.

The two soldiers down by the doors were quick to regain their feet. Aang found himself dodging attacks from their spears. With his two opponents flanking him, Aang had to move fast to avoid their spear thrusts. He seemed like a whirling blur of red and yellow. Fortunately for him help arrived shortly. Katara had charged past the downed firebenders at a dead run. As she approached one of the soldiers turned his attention to her. Before he could thrust his spear at her belly, Katara thrust her hands at him. Water rushed to envelope the man and press him to the wall before freezing him solid. With only one soldier to worry about, Aang stepped in low under the man's spear thrust. He sent a strong gust of air into the man's belly that lifted him off the ground and smashed him against the wall. The man fell back to the floor unconscious.

The fight was now over. It had taken less than a minuet.

Sokka moved down the hall to where Katara and Aang at the doors. The three of them started pulling them open. Once the doors were open enough, they could see that a set of stairs led down into the bottom level of the fort. As they started their descent, none of them noticed the soldier looking around the corner.

Lin had been looking for a late night snack when he heard the commotion. He had run down the hall expecting to find the prison guards in a fist fight over some petty mater. To his shock he saw as three kids took out the guards. His first though was to go and help the other soldiers, but he discarded that idea when he realized if four guards went down that easy, he was just going to get knocked out as well. Instead, after the kids started their way down the steps, he ran off to wake the commander.

As they reached the bottom of the steps they could see that they were now standing in a large, circular hall. It was lit by torches in scones along the walls. They could see that along the walls were doors with iron bars across their windows. These must be the cells. Lines of wooden pillars crisscrossed the room.

"These pillars must be some kind of central support for this building. As we were making our way through that maze up stairs I could see them built into the walls. I though they were just decorative, but they actually reach to the ground below," Sokka said as he looked around the room. "They must be incase they are attacked by earthbenders. Rocks can smash through iron walls, but wooden support beams will make the structure more flexible."

"Over there, look," Katara said as she pointed to the far side of the room. Excitedly she exclaimed, "I think that cell is occupied. I though I heard a noise from inside it."

The group dashed across the floor and indeed, they could here the sound of chains rattling. They looked though the bars and saw a man lying on a wood bench. His hands were inside iron cups that were separated by a metal bar. Another bar ran up to his neck where it attached to a metal collar. The man obviously had very little range of motion with his hands. Long chains ran from his feet to the walls. There was just enough slack for him to move around the small room.

"This had better be good," Commander Riki growled at the man that had just woken him.

"Sir, three people have broken into the fort. They were spotted heading down into the prison," the soldier said.

"What!" he roared as he sat up. He quickly began to dress as he issued orders. "I want ten men units searching every inch of this complex. Send two units out to patrol the parade field. I will personally lead two units to the prison. Agni have mercy on us all if he his free before I get there. I will not have a repeat of the Crimson Moon Massacre"

The soldier dashed off to alert the rest of the fort and deliver the commander's orders. Riki strapped on his sword and move to meet with the men that would accompany him into the monster's din.

The man raised his head and looked at them through sleepy eyes. "Morning already," he grumbled. The man's skin was pale from lack of exposure to the sun. His brown hair had grown long until it reached his shoulders. Judging by the stubble on his chin, it had been at least two days since he was shaved. As he sat up his blue eyes scanned the faces of the three children. "You're not the usual guards."

"Oh, we're not guards. We're here to rescue you," Aang spoke up helpfully.

The man smiled, "Well this is pleasant surprise."

Sokka tried opening the door, but discovered it was locked. "We need some kind of key. I'll go check the guards to see if they have one," he said then dashed back towards the stairs.

"I'm Katara and this is Aang, he's the Avatar. That was my brother, Sokka, that went to get the key," Katara explained as they waited for Sokka to return. "We were told that you were a waterbending master. We were hoping that you could teach us."

The man rose to his feet and walked as close to the door as he could. "My name is Kaku. I am indeed a waterbending master, the most powerful you will ever meet, and if you free me, I will teach you waterbending secrets that you have not even dreamed possible," he told them. Katara and Aang beamed at this, it was everything they could have hoped for. "I've been thinking it would be nice to have some apprentices for a while, and the Avatar none the less."

Aang smiled at this then let out another burp. He rubbed his belly with a grimace as he said, "That guy was right about those pachi fruit, I'm never eating those again."

Sokka came racing back to them with the key in hand panting, "Bad news guys. I could hear a lot of footsteps coming our way as I was getting the key. Their on to us and we need to hurry," he said as he fumbled with the lock. The door swung open and Sokka dropped down to unlock the cuffs around Kaku's legs.

"So why are you imprisoned anyway?" Aang asked as Sokka worked with the uncooperative lock.

"I was captured while doing raids against the Fire Nation. They said that they didn't want to just execute me, they wanted me to suffer for all of the trouble I caused them. I've been locked down here for five years now," Kaku snarled with an angry glint in his eye.

"That's terrible," Katara gasped as she thought about being stuck in a cell away from the world for five years.

"There is no limit to the Fire Nation's cruelty," Sokka agreed as he opened one lock then moved to the other. With a few twists he managed to get it open. He stood and took a look at the odd manacles, "It won't fit that key hole. We'll just have to get them free later."

"No! I need my hands free now," Kaku roared. The three were taken back by this. He saw this and smiled again, "I'll need them to fight our way out of here."

"Well, there is nothing I can do right now," Sokka said recovering from the shock of the outburst. After being locked up for so long the guy had the right to be a bit cranky.

Kaku frowned but fallowed Sokka out to of the cell. Aang noticed that the Kaku had an odd way of moving, almost as though his body were flowing. They all dashed across the room towards the stairs. As they were almost to the stairs they discovered that they took to long. A large patrol of Fire Nation soldiers had just reached the top of the stairs and was starting down to intercept them. It was at that time that the worst possible thing that could happen did.

"Aah, my stomach," Aang cried and doubled over.

Katara quickly dropped to her knees beside him. "Aang, are you alright?" she asked with her voice full of concern.

The soldiers were rushing down the steps as Kaku turned to look at Sokka pleadingly and said, "Sokka, without the Avatar you can't fight your way out of here. You have to free my hands somehow so I can fight."

Sokka looked at the manacles in concentration then drew his club. He looked down at Katara and said, "Quick, freeze the metal with your waterbending. Make it as cold as you can and it may make the metal brittle."

Katara kept one hand on Aang as she used her other to waterbend a stream of water from her water skin up to cover the odd manacles then used all of her focus to freeze it colder than she had ever tried. She made it as cold as the icy winter of the South Pole.

Sokka raised his club over his head with both hands to smash the middle bar. As he did one of the soldiers, a commander by his uniform, pushed his way past the rest as they reached the bottom of the steps. The man had a horrified look on his face as he shouted, "No, whatever you do, don't free him!"

Something about the man's voice struck Sokka as incredibly sincere. He briefly wondered if there might be a reason they put such an elaborate set of manacles on this man. In the end those thoughts did not mater, he was already swinging the club down.


	4. The Crimson Bender

**Crimson **

**Chapter 4: The Crimson Bender**

**By justicar347**

**Disclaimer: **I do not own Avatar: The Last Airbender. Ty Lee and Mai would get a lot more lines if I did.

**Theme Music: **Kaku's theme song is Bodies by Drowning Pool. Try listing to it while you read.

**Author's Note: **This chapter was inspired by one of my favorite Fullmetal Alchemist characters. See if you can't guess who.

**Author's Warning:** The story is now being upgraded to an M rating. Here is all of that blood and horror I've been promising for the last three chapters.

Sokka's club came down hard on the center of the frozen bar of the manacles. Just as he had hoped, the bar cracked and split. Without the central support, the rest of the manacle fell away. The cups around Kaku's hands loosened and slid off. The collar around his neck dropped free.

It seemed as though all time had frozen. The Fire Nation soldiers and there commander had stopped where they stood. Aang and Katara looked up at Kaku. Sokka let his concerns for the commanders warning pass to the back of his mind. All of them were waiting to see what Kaku would do.

Commander Riki froze where he stood. "The Crimson Bender is free," he whispered in horror.

"HAHAHA," Kaku laughed loudly as he tilted his head back. He flexed his fingers and then his whole body. This was what he had waited five years for. He looked down at Aang and Katara and said, "Consider this your first lesson in waterbending."

One soldier lowered his spear and charged. "He doesn't have any water yet," the man called to the others. He was new to the fort, a raw recruit. He did not know the history of his opponent. He did not know the mistake he had made.

Before the soldiers spear could reach him, Kaku's arm shot out. It was fluid motion that flowed into him turning his palm up then clenching his fist. The soldier dropped his spear and fell to the ground clutching his stomach. He yelled out in pain as he retched up the contents of his stomach.

"There is water inside the stomach of all living things," Kaku explained. "By manipulating that water you can cause an enemy to become nauseous or," he moved his fingers causing the soldier to scream and throw up again, "cause him unbearable pain."

"Spread out," the commander called to the soldiers, "forget about the others, just worry about him."

Sokka new that at the moment, his first priority was Aang and Katara. Kaku seemed very confident of himself, so Sokka was content to let him take care of the soldiers for the moment. He helped Katara carry Aang back behind one of the pillars as the soldiers spread out to intercept Kaku.

"Your second lesson," Kaku shouted as he rushed towards a group of three soldiers, "is that the whole body contains water." He dodge past there strikes, moving like a serpent till he was in close. Suddenly, one of the soldiers started to mimic his movements. The soldier was a shaky imitation, but he still fallowed the movements well enough that he thrust his spear into one of his companion's heart.

Kaku released the soldier that had just speared his friend in the leg. He took control of the third man. The first soldier, still in shock over what he had done, did not realize the switch had taken place. All he knew was that he suddenly had his comrade's spear sticking though his back and out of his chest.

"And now, the final lesson for today," Kaku said as a group of six soldiers ran towards him, "is that blood itself can be bent."

Kaku, using his unnatural grace, brought his hands around and up in a flowing circle. Blood gushed out of the two dying men. With a sharp snap of his wrist, a ribbon of blood slashed across the neck of the man he had controlled only a moment ago. The thin whip move so fast and with such power that it cleanly decapitated the man. His head fell back off his shoulders as blood spurted high into the air before the corpse tumbled to the ground.

Sokka, Katara, and Aang had been watching this all intently. They were amazed at the skill Kaku showed. It was, as he had said, beyond what they had dreamed, even if they found it to be a bit brutal. But then they saw something that they had not been prepared for. This was the first time they had ever seen someone killed in combat.

As of yet, none of them had had to kill an opponent. Katara and Sokka had been hidden away with the other children when their mother was killed. Aang had been frozen in an iceberg during the genocide of his people. It was a horrifying experience for them. These were brutal killings. It was obvious that Kaku could have just disabled the soldiers, but he had chosen to kill them viscously. The glee on his face showed that he enjoyed what he was doing.

For Aang however, there was an even more terrifying realization: his stomach had stopped hurting when Kaku had moved away.

The six men closed on Kaku. Four of them had spears aimed at him while the other two, firebenders, shot bursts of fire at him. With a wave of his hand, Kaku caused one of the bodies to leap into the air and act like a shield. The fireballs burst against it as one of the spears sunk in deep. Kaku pulled his hands apart in a tearing motion and the body burst in a bloody spray. Kaku whipped his arms around and drew the blood from the burst body and the ones on the floor until he had a flowing stream of crimson around him.

Kaku rushed at the soldiers. He streamed the red liquid into long, thin ribbons and sent them lashing about. They cut through the spears and drew gashes along the men. Kaku used these wounds to drawl fourth even more blood to fuel his attack. He drained so much blood from one man that he dropped to the floor as pale as death. One of the firebenders launched a wave of flame at Kaku only to have one of his fellows suddenly jerk into the path.

"Ahhhhh!" the soldier cried out as the fire washed over him. It was the most horrifying thing that the firebender had ever seen. The other soldier, his skin charred black, staggered forward and wrapped his hands around his throat to strangle him.

The other firebender had moved to flank Kaku with the intent of attacking him from behind. However, Kaku simply swung one arm behind him and made a sharp motion with his hand and the firebender felt the most agonizing pain imaginable as his stomach and other organs contorted inside of him. His screams filled the air as he dropped to floor contorting in pain. The face plate of his helmet fell away and everyone could see that he was bleeding out of his eyes, ears, mouth, and nose.

Five more men rushed in to help their comrades. The combat was fully joined. Kaku moved about the battle whipping and slashing with blood. He cut and pierced the men as they tried to run him though with their spears. He knocked aside their attacks with bloody shields or caused his enemies to jump into the path of the attacks and act as living shields. He combined all of his dread skills as his body flowed across the floor, gracefully dodging attacks and lashing out with sharp strikes. He turned the men into puppets that he commanded to attack each other. He twisted their stomachs and other organs until they writhed in pain.

The whole time as he mercilessly slew his opponents he laughed. His mouthed had formed a sadistic grin as he left death and destruction in his path. He taunted his victims as he twisted their bodies.

Commander Riki watched in horror as this monster slaughtered three fourths of his men. He would not let their deaths be in vein. He had watched and formed a plan. He signaled to the two remaining firebenders to flank him and put the plan into motion.

The two firebenders charged forward as Kaku finished slicing open the belly of one of the soldiers to let his entrails spill out. Kaku turned to intercept their charge with a smile, but they stopped short and sent the largest wave of flame they could at him. With a laugh, Kaku raised a wall of blood. The fire crashed against it and the firebenders continued to pour their flames against it in an attempt to burn through. At least that is what Kaku though their plan was.

Riki's sword burst though the wall of blood and fire followed by his body. He was scorched from his men's flames and drenched in their blood. His surprise attack had caught Kaku off guard. Riki used his momentum to continue forward as he thrust his sword's sharp tip at Kaku's heart.

Kaku only had an instant to react. He let his right leg slide back as he rolled and twisted his torso. He managed to turn his body enough that the attack would not strike his heart, but it did gash his shoulder. This was the first wound he had received during the whole combat.

Riki's plan had failed; he had lost the best chance he had of slaying this monster. Still, he would not surrender to despair. He brought his sword around to cut into Kaku only to have it deflected by the spilled blood of his men. He pressed his attack, but each strike was only absorbed by more blood.

The two firebenders and the two remaining soldiers refused to stand back as their commander faced this inhuman monster. They leapt into the battle to add their strength to the battle. But surrounding Kaku seemed to only make him stronger. His bloody whips lashed out at them. He moved with a speed that all of them together could not match as he struck them and deflected their attacks.

Kaku took control of Riki's body. The horror was apparent on Riki's face as he was forced to impale one soldier then slash the throat of the other with his sword. He was launched at the two firebenders, who refused to strike their own commander. As they dodged his unwilling attacks, they could not watch to see Kaku send sharp lances of frozen blood hurling at them. The bloodspears pierced the men though the chests and they dropped to the floor as their hearts, with their last few beats, pumped more blood onto the crimson stained floor.

Finally, only commander Riki was left alive in the melee with Kaku. He was down on his knees with his arms twisted behind his back in an unnatural manor and he was already bleeding from a dozen fatal wounds. Kaku walked up to him grinning. He raised his arm and hand. Streams of blood flowed up his arm and past his hand until it had formed into a thin red blade of blood. It extended his arm like some sort of grotesque sickle. "Don't worry; I'll make this a clean cut. You'll die far faster than your family did," he said as he looked down into the man's eyes as he brought the blood blade down to decapitate him.

"No!"

The strong gust of air struck Kaku hard in the chest and sent him flying backwards. With a whipping motion of his arm, blood tendrils rose from the ground to catch and support him. As they helped him to his feet, Kaku could see that the young Avatar had come to stand in front of him.

**End Note: **I would like to point out that I started this story before The Puppetmaster. I wish I had gotten it completed before that episode, but sometimes life gets in the way. The biggest annoyance is that the story know longer is compatible with the show's cannon.


	5. Guilt and Revelations

**Crimson **

**Chapter 5: Guilt and Revelations**

**By justicar347**

**Disclaimer: **I do not own Avatar: The Last Airbender. If I did, Sokka would still wear that cool face paint from the second episode.

**Author's Note: **I wish that I could have gotten this story out before The Puppetmaster eliminated it from fitting with the cannon.

**Author's Warning:** There will be plenty of blood in the next chapter.

Aang, Katara, and Sokka were frozen in horror at what they were witnessing. They had never seen combat like this. Certainly they knew it existed, but had never experienced it first hand.

Katara could feel tears swelling in her eyes. It was not in her nature to want others to suffer. Even if they were Fire Nation, she felt compelled to go and help those that lay on the floor dying. However, she found herself unable to mover from her spot. Kaku's bending ability was truly what he had promised. She had never seen such power, but it terrified her to her core to think that she might be capable of doing something like that. She had come here to find a teacher. If she had not seen the terror of Kaku's techniques for herself, Katara may have learned them without realizing just what they were. That thought shook her to her core.

Sokka stood his ground not just from the horror of the violence, but from the division of his own mind. His hatred of the Fire Nation was greater than that of both of his companions' combined. He felt that death was something that all Fire Nation soldiers deserved, but this, this was wrong. Nobody deserved to die like this. Worst of all, he was the one responsible for it. He had been the one that wanted to come to the prison. He was the one that set Kaku free. He was the one that ignored the warnings. So he was torn on the inside between his beliefs about the Fire Nation and knowing that there was something fundamentally wrong with what Kaku was doing.

Aang was pale as he watched the massacre. He had come here hoping to find a teacher, but he knew that he could not learn from Kaku. Aang knew he could never harm someone the way Kaku was. He wanted to end this, but what could he say. The Fire Nations soldiers wanted to kill Kaku and Kaku wanted to kill them. How could he stop something like this? It was like the war itself. Hatred and violence so deeply rooted that Aang could not even fathom it. How was he, the Avatar, supposed to end it?

So they stood there, impotent. They wanted to act, but could not reconcile that thought and their bodies. They watched the carnage as they wrestled with their own personal guilt: wanting a teacher, freeing a monster, and not being able to save people.

The Kaku raised his hand and formed the blade of blood. They had all been silently telling themselves that Kaku was a warrior fighting against the Fire Nation in the back of their minds. They could rationalize his brutality as the result of being imprisoned for five years. As her prepared to execute the man in front of him, he said the words that removed all doubts from their minds. He shattered their justifications when he announced that he had murdered the man's family.

"No!"

When the mental barrier crumbled, Aang rushed forward. He sent a jet of air at Kaku and knocked him off of his feet. It was disturbing to watch as tendrils of blood reached to grab Kaku and set him back on his feet. Aang could feel himself shaking with rage as he shouted, "This stops now!"

Kaku simply frowned. "An apprentice should not interfere with his master's work."

"I'm not letting you kill anyone else. This is wrong," Aang said as his features hardened. He did not want to think about how only a short time ago he had wished to train under this man.

"You came here because you wanted to learn how to stop the Fire Nation. I was just showing you how," Kaku said with a shrug.

"You don't care that they are Fire Nation soldiers. You used your bending on me earlier so we would free you," Aang accused. He could feel Katara and Sokka's eyes on him now as they learned this knew fact.

"You were taking to long to free me," Kaku said as though it were the simplest thing in the world. He seemed so calm, not the laughing sadist they had watched fight only moments ago. "Now let me finish my work so we can leave."

Kaku raised his hand and again formed the blade of blood, but Aang stepped in front of him. "I told you, I won't allow you to kill him."

"If you want him, you'll have to go through us," Katara said as she and Sokka stepped up behind Aang.

Kaku let the blood slide away from his had raised his palms in a defensive posture. "Well if that's the way you feel. I certainly wouldn't want to have to fight my own tribesmen," Kaku said. The three children let out a collective sigh of relief now that they would not have to fight this terrifying man.

"Ha, don't make me laugh," Riki said from the floor. His voice came out as a cough and blood flew out of his mouth. The three children glanced back at the injured Fire Nation captain lying on the floor. "Your 'own tribesmen' left you to us. You are so foul that they left you in our hands until these foolish children freed you."

The three children found their horror with this situation growing even more. Each new revelation brought a new level of damnation to what they had done. They turned back to face Kaku, who was now heartily laughing.

"Well, I guess my secret is out now," Kaku said still chuckling. His up raised hands shot forward and chaos broke loose.

**Big News:** I'm considering writing a prequel that is all about Kaku. Let me know what you think.

**End Note:** Sorry this took so long to get out. Without the pressure to be done before the Puppetmaster, I slacked off. The next chapter will have more action.


	6. Blood Baptism

**Crimson **

**Chapter 6: Blood Baptism**

**By justicar347**

**Disclaimer: **I do not own Avatar: The Last Airbender. Uncle Iroh would be in every episode if I did.

**Theme Music:** Just a reminder, Kaku's theme song is Bodies by Drowning Pool. Try and listen to it as you read.

**Author's Note: **I'd like to thank those of you that keep reading. By the way, I'm thinking of writing a prequel about Kaku. Let me know what you think.

**Author's Warning:** There will be plenty of blood in this chapter.

Tendrils of blood shot forward at the children. The three children dodged out of the way. Aang was just barely able to get back and watched as a tendril of blood slashed where his head would have been if he had not leaned back. They were forced to backpedal and retreat under the sudden onslaught. They were preparing their defenses when they realized that Kaku's attack had not pursued them.

With his new enemies forced back, he finished his vile execution of Commander Riki. He brought his hands together then tore them apart. Commander Riki's body followed suit, crumpling up then ripping in two with the sickening noise of flesh and bone being rended apart. Commander Riki's death scream reverberated through the room in a macabre echo.

Aang saw what Kaku was about to do and realized the mistake of retreating just as the man on the floor was turned into a gory burst. The horrified screams of the three children joined the Fire Nation Commander's final death cry to feel the dungeon with a macabre symphony of fearful, skin curling screams.

Commander Riki's blood joined the flowing current of red blood that swirled around Kaku. As the torch light reflected off of it, it seemed to give him a crimson glow that made his baleful laugh seem even more sinister. With his long awaited vengeance on his captor completed, Kaku turned his attention to his would-be benefactors.

Kaku's hands moved in rapid jabs and strikes, but they were all aimed at Aang. The blood whips and lances shot at Aang in an unending assault. He was forced into constant motion as he dodged attacks from all directions. He had never had anyone individual put him so on edge. Of course, this was also his first time fighting a true bending master, someone that had completely mastered their element.

Kaku's decision to focus on Aang had one positive side: Katara and Sokka were free to act. Katara was on the edge of panic. She had used up all of her water and was searching for a supply to replenish it. She spotted where it had pooled around the broken manacles from earlier. She dashed towards them with the intent of drawling up the used water so that she could join Aang in battle.

Sokka was still armed. He never liked fighting benders, especially powerful ones like Kaku. Approaching them was hard to do with no bending to defend himself with, but that would not stop him from aiding in the fight. What he lacked in power he would just have to make up for with guile. Sokka started to move behind Kaku with his boomerang readied. He just needed the right opening to strike.

Aang continued to dodge Kaku's attacks. He used his airbending to enhance his speed and mobility as he jumped, twisted, and flipped over Kaku's attacks. Even with his speed, he was still only a heartbeat ahead of this implacable enemy. Blood darts shot at him and he leapt high into the air only to have to kick off of the ceiling as roaring column of blood rushed at him. Kaku must have drawn almost all of the blood that he had spilled to form it.

"You would have made such an excellent apprentice," Kaku said with a disappointed look on his face. The torrent of blood whirled around him. He made rapid cutting strikes with his hands. The blood struck out, but the Avatar jus leapt over him and now Kaku had his opponent circling behind him. Each time he tried to turn and strike, the Avatar turned with him and continued to nimbly dance behind him.

"Yes, a marvelous apprentice indeed. Unfortunately it is obvious that you just would not have the stomach for my teachings. You lack the ruthless nature for my teachings. You are standing right behind me and have not even tried to attack," Kaku said as he gathered the blood with a flourish of his arms. He brought the mass blood crashing down in all directions, forcing Aang to jump back. "Maybe that is why the Air Nomads were whipped out, because they lacked the instincts to fight and survive."

The mention of the genocide of his people was enough to provoke Aang to attacking. He slid into a low stance and brought both hands forward and up. A powerful wind swept forth from him. Kaku moved to form a blood shield, but the force of the wind broke through it and launched him into the air.

The wind sent Kaku flying through the air. In a feat of unparalleled agility, Kaku managed to regain his balance. He landed on his feet and slid across the floor. He was forced to let one hand drop to the floor, but did not fall. He skidded to a stop just as the blood came rushing to him. He charged forward as though Aang's attack had not even fazed him. The smile on his face showed that he was reveling in the chaos of battle.

Kaku charged forward, dodging past powerful blasts of air from Aang as he formed the blood into a sharp lash. As Kaku slashed at Aang with a viscous lash of blood that cut through one of the support pillars when Aang danced out of the way, Sokka saw his opening. He dashed forward with his boomerang drawn back. Once he had closed in behind Kaku, he threw it with all of his might.

The boomerang soared true and would have struck Kaku square in the back of the head. Would have, except Kaku dodge at the last second. He had seen the look in Aang's eyes that signaled an attack from behind. He twisted his body at random, not knowing where the attack would come from. He avoided the hard strike to the back of the head, but it still cut a line across his cheek, leaving behind a thin line of blood.

This was the first time that Kaku had been injured that night and it sent him into a feral rage. Aang and Sokka could see the promise of terrible vengeance as he glanced between them. Kaku sent a sharp blast of blood at Aang. Kaku twisted his arm sharply until it was completely twisted around as he directed the flow to follow Aang. The unexpectedly fast burst combined with the fact that it was able to uncannily follow Aang's path was enough to catch the Airbender. It slammed into his chest sent him hurling back into one of the columns with a loud thud that most likely cracked Aang's ribs. As Aang lay wheezing on the ground, his only though was, "How can I beat him? Is he even human?"

Kaku then turned his attention on the one that had dealt him the injury. Sokka swallowed the lump in his throat as he caught his boomerang as it returned to his hand. He prepared to throw it again, but did not get the chance. Kaku rapidly covered the distance between them, riding on a wave of blood. When he was so close that Sokka could clearly see the evil intent in his eyes, Kaku made a sharp twisting motion with his hands. Sokka's stomach felt as though it was being ripped in two. He felt the bile rising and emptied his stomach on the floor as he dropped to his knees. It was the worst pain he had ever felt. It was like to sharkeels were slithering around in his stomach and trying to gnaw their way out.

Kaku looked down at the writhing boy on the floor and gave him a hard kick in the ribs. He laughed as the boy yelled in pain. He brought his hand around preparing to lash the boy to death with a bloodwhip.

"Don't you touch him!" Katara screamed as she sent a stream of water bursting though Kaku's lash. She directed the water back to her. She only had a little left to work with after she had collected it from the floor. She glanced over and saw that Aang was recovering and would be on his feet in just a few minutes. She had to hold Kaku off until then.

"Don't bother me little girl," Kaku said as he reformed the blood lash. He turned his focus back on the boy that had wounded him.

"He's completely ignoring me," Katara thought to herself. Could she really blame him. She had only a small amount of water to work with compared to the mass of blood he commanded. Even worse she though as she looked at how the blood flowed for him readily, but she had to focus just to get the water she had to hold an unstable shape. She was not really much of a threat to him, but that would not stop her.

"I said leave him ALONE!" Katara shouted with all of her might as she struck Kaku in the side of the head a waterwhip. The blow made him stumble and loose control of his bending. He turned to face her as she prepared to attack again.

"You little bitch, I was going to let you live," he said. He ducked under her attack and went into a low stance. His hands rose up together then split apart. The water Katara had been bending was torn from her as he took control of it. He sent it splashing onto the floor where it mixed with the blood on the ground. He then brought his hands close together and made a squeezing motion. Katara's own hands shot up around her throat and started to choke her.

Katara struggled for breath as her own hands tried to crush the life out of her body. She dropped to her knees as she started to loose strength. She could see Sokka struggling to get up to help her, but he was still lying on the ground from the excruciating pain in his stomach. She could just make out the partial curses he was trying to shout at the demon that was about to take both of their lives.

"It can't end like this," she though to herself. She fought back all she could, but Kaku's bending was to strong. She fell forward as spots started to form in her vision. She knew that once she passed out she would be dead. "There is so much left to do. We haven't even gone to the North Pole yet. I have…to… fight it… but I just… want… to close…my eyes…"

"Katara!"

As Katara started to slip over the edge of the abyss, she thought she heard her name. Suddenly her death grip on her own throat slackened and she could breathe again. She took in a sharp breath. Her eyes fluttered open and she could see through blurry eyes that Aang stood now where Kaku had been.

Aang had finally managed to get back on his feet. As he stood on unsteady legs, he looked to see what was happening. He was horrified to see Katara and Sokka laying on the ground with Kaku standing over them. The most terrifying part was when he realized what Kaku was doing to Katara, forcing her to strangle herself with her own hands. Aang was filled with a burning rage.

He rushed forward and leapt into the air. He yelled out Katara's name as he twisted in the air. His leg came down in an ax kick as he struck the ground. A scythe of wind rushed forward and crashed into Kaku. The roaring blast of wind sent the waterbender flying half-way across the room.

Aang glanced down at Katara and Sokka. Once he was sure that they were in no immediate danger he turned his attention to Kaku. His sorrow and fear had melted away and were replaced with determination and righteous fury. He rushed at Kaku. As he reached his target, he went into a low spin as he brought his hands together at his hip. Using the momentum from his charge and spin, Aang thrust his hands forward and launched a hard ball of air at Kaku.

The airball hit Kaku just as he regained his feet and hurled him into one of the wooden pillars. The air was knocked out of him, but he still kept the presence of mind to duck when Aang went into a roundhouse kick that sent a slicing wave of air at him. The wind cut through the pillar that Kaku had his back to.

Kaku made a beckoning motion that drew the blood to him once again. He raised his hands and brought them down and in a crescent motion that caused the blood to form an ark that absorbed the next blast of wind the airbender attacked him with. Kaku smiled an arrogant grin and said, "You're finally showing some spirit."

Blood flooded up Kaku's arms to form hideous crimson tentacles as he raised his hands over his head. He stepped forward and brought them crashing down at Aang. Aang whiled out of the way as his hands shot hard blasts of air at Kaku. The two entered frenzied melee. Aang dodged and jumped. He bounced off of the pillars before Kaku cut into them with his lashes and off of the ceiling before Kaku's whips bit into them. Kaku batted aside and side stepped Aang's powerful gusts of air. They were a blur of motion and action as they each tried to close the ground for a defining blow while avoiding the bone jarring strikes of their opponent.

Sokka had finally managed to force the pain to the back of his mind. Watching what that monster was doing to his little sister had been the most terrifying thing he had ever been witness to. He had felt so weak and powerless as he lay twisting in pain on the floor unable to do anything to stop Katara from ringing the life form her own neck. Now that Aang had driven Kaku away from them for the moment, Sokka could feel the pain less to a controllable point.

Sokka drug himself across the bloody floor to where his sister lay gasping for air. "Katara, are you OK?" he asked.

"I'm alright," she panted out, "What about you?"

Sokka started to stand on shaky legs. He looked at his sister with concern in his eyes and said, "I'm better now. The pain faded when Kaku moved away." That was partially a lie; his ribs still ached from the kick.

He reached down for his boomerang with one hand as he used the other to help Katara get up. He looked at her with all of the seriousness and authority he could muster then told her, "I am going to go try and help Aang. I don't know if it will do any good against that…that monster. Your water is all gone; there isn't anything you can do against him now. I want you to run and call for Appa…me and Aang will be right behind you." Again, he felt that the last part was probably a lie. He did not know if he and Aang could really hope to stop, or even escape, Kaku. He did not want Katara to read this in his eyes so he turned and dashed towards the fight without looking to see if she would do what he said. He knew Katara was strong willed and would not want to leave the two of them behind, but he prayed that for once she would just do what he told her so that at least one of them might live through the night.

Katara hesitated only for a moment. She knew that Sokka was right. She knew that she was useless in a fight without any water to bend. She knew that staying might very well be her death, but she also knew she could not leave Sokka and Aang behind. She got to her feet as her breathing steadied. She dashed after her brother, hoping there was some way for her to help.

Aang twisted in the air and sent a wall of wind rushing at Kaku. The bloodbender went into a low crouch with his arms crossed. The blood flowed into a hemisphere that hardened into a solid shield. After the explosion of air had harmlessly rushed over him, Kaku sprung up and threw his arms apart. The hemisphere burst into a thousand razor sharp shards of frozen blood. The storm of blood razors rushed at Aang with every intent of impaling him. He dodged as best he could, but still suffered multiple cuts across his body. None were lethal, but they all stung as blood slowly oozed out of them.

Sokka saw all of this happening and hardened his resolve. As he rushed forward he hurled his boomerang straight for Kaku. Sokka broke to the right even as his boomerang flew at its target. He had learned his lesson. He was not going to rush straight at Kaku this time; he was going to harry him from a distance.

Kaku turned his head as he heard Sokka's approach. He let out a frustrated growl. Every time he was about to get something done, one of these brats intervened. "I'll just have to deal with them all at once I suppose," he thought to himself as he dodged the boomerang. He could see that the warrior had learned not to approach and was moving to intercept the boomerang.

Katara saw Sokka's plan as he intercepted his boomerang and prepared for another throw. He wanted to distract Kaku, not injure him. He was trying to create an opening for Aang. Katara knew that this would work better if Kaku was caught in a triangle. Looking around the floor, Katara saw chunks of iron and wood that had been knocked loose during the fight. She reached down and grabbed up some of the larger chunks then ran to a vantage point.

Kaku found himself now pinned between the three of them. The girl tossing debris at his head was not much of a threat, but it added to the distractions the boy with the boomerang. All of this was making it harder to attack the airbender. He was finding himself on the defensive. This needed to change. He would have to eliminate the two distractions so he could eliminate the Avatar. The Avatar was his goal; he would be the crowning achievement of Kaku's art.

A plan formed in Kaku's cruel head. It was risky, but it would be worth it. He turned to face the girl as one of her rocks struck him in the head. The airbender saw an opening and sent a rush of air at him. If they had had sharper eyes, they might have noticed the smile that crossed his lips as the burst or air slammed into him and crashed him against a pillar. He held still and kept his eyes closed. He had to fight down the smile as he heard them approach slowly. He listened them banter back and forth as they wondered if he was finally defeated. He bided his time and waited. He focused his chi for when they were finally in range.

"Do you think it's over?" Katara asked. She had one of her makeshift projectiles raised as they closed around the bloodbender. She did not look at Sokka. She knew that latter on he would complain about her not doing as she was told. It would not do him any good though. It never did.

"I think that Aang knocked him out," Sokka said. He looked over at Katara as they approached the bloodbender. He wanted berate her for not doing as he said, but now was not the time. Not that it would likely do any good. She never did listen. He had his boomerang at the ready as they neared the mad man that they had freed.

It was at that moment Kaku struck. His eyes flew open and his arms lashed out. Before they could act, he had what he wanted. He had the girl and the warrior under his power. His hands twisted and directed the two members of the Southern Water Tribe to turn on the Avatar.

Aang was in complete shock. When Kaku had first acted, he had though that he would attack with a weapon made of blood, but instead he used his far more sinister techniques. He was forced to dodge as his two friends were made to attack him. They had pained expressions on their faces and shouted at him to watch out even as their own arms lashed out at him. He jumped over Sokka who was slashing at him with his boomerang as Katara was made to grab Sokka's knife from his belt. Aang jumped and dodge away from each attack.

Kaku laughed at his little show. However, it was obvious that the Avatar was to nimble to be caught by his two puppets. There was a way to remedy that though. Kaku made the siblings face each other and raise their weapons over their heads. They both screamed as realization hit them.

When Aang saw what was about to happen, he acted. He did not bother with thinking, there was not enough time. He leapt between them and sent strong blasts of air crashing into their chests. They went skidding across the floor. He hated the idea of striking his friends like that, but at least they would be alive.

What Aang could not know was that Kaku had already released control of his puppets before he had pummeled them with air. He swept his hands to his sides to drawl the blood from the floor then he stepped and thrust his palms forward. A large ball of blood hurled at the Avatar, who was completely vulnerable. The ball crashed into him and battered him against the wall. Kaku exhaled a deep breath and froze the blood to him.

Kaku walked forward confidently. The two siblings were still laying on the floor recovering and the Avatar was pinned to the wall. He stood in front of the Avatar as he struggled to free himself. "Well, it is finally time to end this," Kaku said with a shrug. The fight had been very good exercise. He raised his arm and let the blood travel up it. It turned into a sharp crimson blade.

Katara looked up and saw Kaku lift his arm to execute Aang. She was on her feet in the blink of an eye. She charged forward not sure what to do. She could not loose Aang. She would not loose Aang. What she did next, she was not even sure she did it.

Before Kaku's blade could fall, a lance of frozen blood pierced him through his back and came out his stomach. He looked down at in surprise. He cranked his neck around and saw the girl standing there with a look of utter horror on her face. "It looks like you have more potential than I thought," Kaku said as the expression on his face relaxed.

All three children were stunned. None of them would have ever though Katara was capable of doing something like that. Katara was mortified at what she had done. Aang fought to free himself so that he could go to her side. Finally off of the ground, Sokka ran to hug her. He tried to reassure her that she did the right thing.

The children were not paying attention to Kaku now; he was a dead man after all. He reached down and grabbed the tip. The back half of the spear dissolved and the front came loose in his hand. The blood flowed up his hand and covered it. Kaku started to laugh as the blood took on an unholy crimson glow. The children turned their attention back to him as he pressed the blood covered hand to his belly. It had been fortunate for him that the bloodlance had hit where it did. An inch up and two to the left would have been irreparable. When he moved his hand away the wound had closed. He chuckled at them as he said, "You didn't really think it would be that easy did you?"

The three were completely shocked. With the Avatar still trapped, Kaku decided it was time to deal with the other two brats. He started towards them and the warrior stepped in front of his sister. It was a brave, but futile act. With swift gestures of his hands, Sokka was forced to his knees and cried out in pain as his arms were wrenched behind his back. Kaku looked at him and said, "You won't want to miss this," then turned his gaze to Katara.

He watched as the waterbender raised her arms. Despite all of her horror at using blood as a weapon, it looked as though she might do it again. Kaku put a quick stop to that by shooting his hand forward and making a fist. The girl's body stiffened and her arms went rigid at her side.

He leaned in close with a smile on his face. He loosened his grip on her enough that she could control her own face. He looked her right in the eye as he said, "You managed to impale me on my own weapon. That is no small feat. I'll extend the offer to take you on as an apprentice one more time. What do you think of that?"

Katara's face switched from fear to righteous defiance. With all her might, she spit in his face.

"That's the way Katara," Sokka told her from his position on the floor. His grin melted away and turned a shout of pain as Kaku made a gesture that wrenched his arms almost to the point of dislocating them.

"You little bitch," Kaku said as he wiped the spit from his face, "I'll make you pay for that."

He brought his hand up in a slow arch and formed a small blooddagger. He moved it right to the edge of her throat. He smiled as he looked into her clear blue eyes. It was a pity she had not taken up his offer. She would have been an amazing student he imagined. Oh well, at least her death would be amusing.

"I'm going to slit your throat," Kaku said in a casual voice, as thought he were talking about the weather. "I'm going to do it lightly so that it will take a longtime for you to bleed out. Don't worry though, you won't die of blood loss. You'll drown in your own blood as it leaks into your lungs first."

Aang felt an inconceivable rage as he heard Kaku's plan. Kaku had to be stopped. Aang had already failed too many people, he would not fail Katara and Sokka. The thought of Katara being forced to drown in her own blood was more than he could bare. It was a weight he cold not carry and it filled him with a righteous furry that he had never known.

As all of these emotions played out in him, Aang felt a surge of power. At the same time, he began to feel disconnected from everything around him. It was as though he were an outside observer. His eyes and arrow tattoos began to glow as he was surrounded with a nimbus of light. The frozen blood that held him to the wall burst off of him as he shouted, "Let her go!"

Kaku turned his head and looked at the amazing sight of the Avatar tapping into his full power. This would be his real test. He drew forth all of the blood around him and sent it lashing at the Avatar.

With a single swipe of his hand, a barrier of raging wind formed and dispersed the blood. Its power was enough to send the blood fly all across the room in every direction. Then Aang struck forward with his hand and sent a hurricane of wind rushing at the blood bender.

Kaku was struck full on by the blast. He flew across the room, crashing thought pillars till he slammed into the wall. He lay there with broken pillars on top of him. He let out a low groan right before the ceiling above him collapsed on top of him. The whole building was trembling now. Almost all of the pillars had been destroyed or damaged. The ceiling hand holes and cracks that were steadily growing. The fort would soon collapse.

With Kaku buried, the raging power inside of Aang subsided and he crashed to the floor. Katara and Sokka rushed over to him. "Are you ok?" Katara asked as she and Sokka helped Aang up.

"Yea, I think so. What about you two?", Aang asked.

"We're ok," Sokka said. They were all battered and beaten. He did not want to think what they would all feel like when the adrenaline wore off and the full effect of their injuries hit them. Still, they were all alive and did not appear to have any major injuries. "Relatively speaking."

They all helped each other across the room to the exit. As they walked past the pile of ruble that had buried Kaku, they could see hand sticking up out of it. They all froze and held their breath when the hand started to move and a laugh issued from the debris. Was it possible that Kaku would come after them again? Then, as unexpectedly as it had stared, it stopped. The room was quiet and the hand hung limply. The three companions, relieved that the demon they had faced was defeated, walked up the stairs and out of the dungeon that would haunt them in their nightmares.

**Please Review!**

**Prequel!:** I am pretty sure that I will write a prequel to this about Kaku. It will be a while before I do though. I have a couple of other things to get out of the way first. Still, I want to know what you all think about the idea.

**End Note:** I am sorry that this took so long to get out. My classes were killing me during the last three weeks. I had hoped to get a lot done during my much to short break, but had to go on a family vacation. I hope it was worth the wait. This is the longest chapter I have ever wrote (ten pages). Heck, I usually don't write this much for class even! I want to give a special thanks to all of my reviewers, particularly to SilverImage who gave me the encouragement I need to get into gear and get this done. I hope to have the final chapter out in a week or so.


	7. The Children Wept

**Crimson **

**Chapter 7: The Children Wept**

**By justicar347**

**Disclaimer: **I do not own Avatar: The Last Airbender. If I did Mai and Ty Lee would have more than two lines every other episode. I mean really, Mai was only in like four fights during season two and Ty Lee has only been seen like once during season three.

**Author's Note:** Sorry it took so long to get this out. This chapter will not contain my signature violence, but I think it is a fitting closing that you will all appreciate.

Aang, Katara, and Sokka were mentally and physically exhausted. What they had been forced to witness, and to do, had left their minds in a daze. The knowledge that they were the ones that had released that monster, for Kaku must be a monster and not another human being to do what he did, weighed heavily on them.

They hurried through the fort as fast as they could. The fort was slowly collapsing around them. The destruction of the pillars and the ground floor that had been the ceiling in the dungeon had weakened the structures integrity. The fort had been made to protect from attacks on the outside, not the inside. The metal that made up the interior was thin and relatively weak. With the foundation ruined, the fort was collapsing in on itself.

Soldiers were scrambling out of the fort. They did not know what had happened. They new that they were on high alert and that the building they called home was falling in on their heads. Many of them were new recruits that did not even know the truth of the monster that had been imprisoned below their feet.

The three children wormed their way through the corridors. Jumping around corners to avoid being spotted by the fleeing soldiers helped to keep their minds from focusing on the horror they had been apart of. Their minds focused in on only one thought, escape. As pieces of the ceiling fell around them and the floor started to crumble, they finally spotted the exit ahead.

They could see that the soldiers were gathered in the courtyard. Some were watching the building crumble while others looked towards the defensive wall thinking that they were under attack. It was not a large force. The small garrison was a simple outpost that did not need more than sixty men. With all of the soldiers that Kaku had slaughtered, the number of soldiers was a fraction of what there should have been. The few officers were moving through the ranks cajoling and rallying the men into formation.

As they stood in the shadows of the doorway, Aang took out the bison whistle and gave it a hard blow. The sound, so high-pitched that no human could hear it, traveled through the air and out into the woods where Appa was waiting for them. It was only a minute before the sky bison had reached the fort. Few of the soldiers were watching the night sky so it was a great shock when the massive beast landed in the courtyard.

The three children made a mad dash for their beloved ride before the shock of Appa's appearance wore off on the soldiers. They had just climbed aboard as the officers started shouting attack orders. With a powerful slap of his tale, Appa launched into the air. The winds of his ascent buffeted some of the soldiers and knocked them from their feet. A few of the firebenders thought to launch a volley of flames at the retreating sky bison and his passengers. A simple evasive maneuver took Appa out of the flames' path and up into the safety of the night sky.

They were content to just let Appa choose their course; they were too exhausted to think about something that at the moment seemed so trivial. Momo sensed Aang's troubled mind and scurried over to him. Aang picked the lemur up and held him tight to him. Momo looked at the young monk unable to comprehend his inner turmoil, but willing act as a security blanket. Sokka sat solemnly watching the other two. It was Katara that finally broke the silence. The sound of her sobs quickly drew the attention of the two boys.

"We're horrible. All of those people are dead because of us!" Katara sobbed as she drew her knees up to her.

"Katara…we…" Aang started as he reached over to her, but realized that he did not have anything comforting to say. His head dropped, "You're right, we're murders."

"No! We are not murders," Sokka told them both sternly as he rose up onto his knees. "We didn't kill them, Kaku did. Besides, they were just Fire Nation soldiers."

"Sokka, how can you say something like that?" Katara asked as she looked up at him. "They were people. They were someone's family and now they are gone because of us."

"Just like our family is gone because of the Fire Nation," Sokka spat. He watched as Katara recoiled at his outburst. He knew he should feel some sort of guilt, but at the moment he found himself filled with nothing, but rage.

"Sokka, don't act like that," Aang said as he looked up at his friend. Tears were starting to stream down his own face. "Kaku didn't murder all of those people because they were Fire Nation. He did it because he wanted to."

"That's my point. Kaku killed them, not us," Sokka said in an exasperated voice, "He is responsible, not us."

"Maybe he did it, but we're the ones that let him loose. I'm the Avatar, I should have been able to do something to stop him before he killed all of those people. I wanted a waterbending master so I would be closer to making up for failing to stop the Fire Nation, but look what happened. This is just more people that I have failed," Aang said, his voice coming out a whisper.

"Aang…" Katara said lightly as she raised her own head to look at him. She knew that it always weighed heavily on him whenever he felt that he had failed someone. She reached a tentative arm over to him as she tried to calm her own crying and console him, "You did everything you could, we all did. Just watching what he did, it made my whole body to freeze up."

"She's right Aang. Kaku was a monster. Using blood like that is something only an inhuman monster could do that," Sokka said. He regretted his words, though, as soon as he saw Katara's reaction. He watched her face go pale and her hold body stiffen like she had just been shocked. It was then that he remembered that she had used bloodbending to save Aang.

"I-I'm a monster…" she said weakly.

"No, you're not a monster Katara," Aang said, his own misery pushed to the back of his mind.

"But I used bloodbending just like Kaku," Katara said as tears again flowed down her cheek. "I used it to try and kill him."

"Katara, Aang would have been killed if you hadn't done that," Sokka said at the verge of yelling. "Katara, you are not a monster and Aang, you are not responsible for what happened. I'm the one that found out about the prison. It was my idea to go in. I'm the one that didn't find out why Kaku was there. I'm the one that set him free, so I'm the one that is responsible for everything that happened and everyone that died."

Katara moved to comfort her brother as she realized the truth of his anger, but saw that he wanted to be left alone. That was the way he dealt with pain. The way he though a man should deal with it.

So the three of them sat there quietly. Aang held Momo in his lap and slowly petted him. He tried not to think about how people kept suffering for his failures and selfishness. Katara quietly cried to herself. She thought about how horrible all of those men's deaths were and how she was as much a monster as Kaku. Sokka tried to hold onto his rage and tell himself that it did not mater, that they were Fire Nation soldiers. However, he knew that was wrong and as the strength of his anger burned away, it was replaced with a knowing guilt that he was responsible for what happened. All three children, and truly at this moment they were children in a frightening, adult world, fell asleep with tears on their cheeks and dreamed nightmares that were tinged with crimson.

**Please Review!**

**End Note: **Well, there is the completion of my first multi-chapter story. I have enjoyed writing this and I think that it has turned out wonderfully.I would like to thank all of you that read this to the end. I have put a lot of work into this story and I am pleased that you have all enjoyed it so much.

**Creation Note: **This was a pretty tricky story to write at certain points. The first two chapters were largely set up, though they seemed to receive good reviews. In the third chapter I had a lot of fun introducing Kaku. He is the first OC I have really done. His appearance, personality, nick name and how he was introduced were roughly based off of my favorite Fullmetal Alchemist character, Kimblee: the Crimson Alchemist. I had trouble figuring out what the prison looked like. I wanted it to have pillars and a stairway. I wish I had though more about it when I was writing the first two chapters. I also had to go back and make some edits to it when I put out the fourth chapter. Now the forth chapter was what this was all about. I think that it was easily some of my best writing. The fifth chapter turned out pretty short, but was mainly just to explain why Aang, Katara, and Sokka had not acted. The sixth chapter was the longest chapter I have ever written. I kind of wish I had broken it up some more and added some more details, but I was tired and hurrying. I had even planned a big bloodbending battle. Still, I think it was pretty good. I might go back and add some more. There would be a note on my profile if I do. The seventh and final chapter was meant to be a closing epilogue. I had known how it was going to end from the beginning, especially Sokka. Still, coming up with the actual dialogue was pretty tricky. In the end, I am very happy with it and I hope that you are too. Let me know what you think and leave a review.

**Spin-offs: **I plan to write a prequel to this about Kaku and his past. I am also considering an alternate ending to this story where Katara accepts Kaku as a teacher. Let me know what you think.


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